Top-level American and Canadian players stick together in the PWHPA in their battle for a better situation for a pro league in North America.
photo: Andre Ringuette / HHOF-IIHF Images
It’s impossible to sugarcoat things. The last 12 months of women’s hockey have been, in many ways, absolutely terrible.
But the last 12 months have also shown that the women who step on the ice to fight for pucks, possession, and victory have shown a remarkable resolve that also proves the women’s game to be stronger than ever.
The paradox is both worrisome and admirable.
Consider that last March the Minnesota Whitecaps beat the Buffalo Beauts, 2-1, to win the NWHL’s Isobel Cup. A week later, Calgary beat Montreal, 5-2, to win the CWHL’s Clarkson Cup.
And then all hell broke loose.
On 1 May 2019, the CWHL ceased operations, citing an “economically unsustainable” league according to a news release. Of course, this affected most Canadian women and plenty of Americans, but in an act of solidarity all the top players from both countries vowed to not play in any league until a meaningful pro league had been established.
On 20 May, they established the Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association (PWHPA), and fight as they might on ice, they held hands together off it in the name of bettering the game.
Later in the summer, the PWHPA announced a Dream Gap Tour that would create various teams made up of combined American and Canadian players playing games in cities large and small across the continent. This ensured the players would remain active while going on a promotional tour of sorts.
Mixed into these various events, which usually encompassed a weekend and included autograph sessions and clinics, the players occasionally reverted to their national colours, competing in a five-game Rivalry Series spanning a couple of months. The U.S. won four of the five games, but the last was played before a U.S.-record crowd of 13,320 in Anaheim this past February.
Along the way, there were other important markers. The two sides played a 3–on-3 at the NHL All-Star Game in St. Louis, another great atmosphere to showcase their skills, and in March the NHL Coaches’ Association launched a Female Coaches Development Program.
Last October, the Moose Jaw Warriors of the WHL hired Olivia Howe as an assistant coach, a first for the junior league, and a move that came just a few weeks after the NHL’s expansion team in Seattle hired Cammi Granato as a pro scout and the Toronto Maple Leafs signed as Assistant Director of Player Development.
Women reached a new level of success this week when retired Swiss goalie Florence Schelling was hired by SC Bern as the team’s general manager. This is by far the most senior hockey-operations post for a woman to assume in the men’s game.
So 2019-20 was devastating to the players. No pro league, no place to play a solid core of games, and then a cancelled 2020 Women’s Worlds because of the coronavirus pandemic.
But the women persevered. They fought. They played and promoted. They vowed. They did not back down. No pro league, no play. Their day will come, and when it does they can look back at this 2019-20 season as an historic starting point to a new future.
Click here for the overview of stories.
But the last 12 months have also shown that the women who step on the ice to fight for pucks, possession, and victory have shown a remarkable resolve that also proves the women’s game to be stronger than ever.
The paradox is both worrisome and admirable.
Consider that last March the Minnesota Whitecaps beat the Buffalo Beauts, 2-1, to win the NWHL’s Isobel Cup. A week later, Calgary beat Montreal, 5-2, to win the CWHL’s Clarkson Cup.
And then all hell broke loose.
On 1 May 2019, the CWHL ceased operations, citing an “economically unsustainable” league according to a news release. Of course, this affected most Canadian women and plenty of Americans, but in an act of solidarity all the top players from both countries vowed to not play in any league until a meaningful pro league had been established.
On 20 May, they established the Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association (PWHPA), and fight as they might on ice, they held hands together off it in the name of bettering the game.
Later in the summer, the PWHPA announced a Dream Gap Tour that would create various teams made up of combined American and Canadian players playing games in cities large and small across the continent. This ensured the players would remain active while going on a promotional tour of sorts.
Mixed into these various events, which usually encompassed a weekend and included autograph sessions and clinics, the players occasionally reverted to their national colours, competing in a five-game Rivalry Series spanning a couple of months. The U.S. won four of the five games, but the last was played before a U.S.-record crowd of 13,320 in Anaheim this past February.
Along the way, there were other important markers. The two sides played a 3–on-3 at the NHL All-Star Game in St. Louis, another great atmosphere to showcase their skills, and in March the NHL Coaches’ Association launched a Female Coaches Development Program.
Last October, the Moose Jaw Warriors of the WHL hired Olivia Howe as an assistant coach, a first for the junior league, and a move that came just a few weeks after the NHL’s expansion team in Seattle hired Cammi Granato as a pro scout and the Toronto Maple Leafs signed as Assistant Director of Player Development.
Women reached a new level of success this week when retired Swiss goalie Florence Schelling was hired by SC Bern as the team’s general manager. This is by far the most senior hockey-operations post for a woman to assume in the men’s game.
So 2019-20 was devastating to the players. No pro league, no place to play a solid core of games, and then a cancelled 2020 Women’s Worlds because of the coronavirus pandemic.
But the women persevered. They fought. They played and promoted. They vowed. They did not back down. No pro league, no play. Their day will come, and when it does they can look back at this 2019-20 season as an historic starting point to a new future.
Click here for the overview of stories.